Nail holding attachment for hammers



1955 F. F. DILLON NAIL HOLDING ATTACHMENT FOR HAMMERS Filed July 5. 195] ATTORNEY United States Patent NAIL HOLDING ATTACHMENT FOR HAMMERS Fred F. Dillon, Alta, Ill.

Application July 3, 1951, Serial No. 235,069

3 Claims. (Cl. 145-30) This invention relates to a nail holding attachment for the head of a carpenters hammer.

The object of the invention is to provide a formed member of sheet metal to be saddled upon the hammerhead preferably in a position in line with the shank and handle of the tool while providing said member with means integral therewith for positively securing it positively to said shank.

In order that the invention may be thoroughly understood, the accompanying drawing is provided to form a part hereof wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of a carpenters hammer showing the nail holding attachment of this invention thereon.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the hammer and the attachment as viewed from the left of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse section in plan of the attachment by itself produced on line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a plan of part of the hammer-head together with the attachment as mounted thereon.

Figure 5 illustrates the attachment in perspective, and

Figure 6 is a plan of the attachment as stamped by dies previous to being formed to enclose the hammerhead.

The purpose of the attachment is that of providing for holding a nail in positive manner on a side of the hammer-head in order that it may be properly and initially driven into the work at a position beyond reach of the arm of the workman. That is to say, though the workman may drive a nail beyond the reach of his hammer-holding arm, he cannot with his other arm locate and hold a nail to be driven at that position, but by carrying the nail on an attachment as herein to be described, he is able both to locate and set the nail and then drive it home."

In the drawing, 1 denotes the head of the hammer of any usually accepted form while 2 is the attachment of the present invention saddled over and upon the said head in line with the shank 3, in this instance.

Figure 6 illustrates the attachment as it'is formed by suitable dies, not shown, it being understood that this consists of a strip of metal relatively long and narrow, and having near one end a slot 4 paralleling and lying close to each longitudinal edge thereof, whereas at its opposite end the strip has at each edge in this instance an extension 5. When placed as in Figure 5 and directed at right angles to the strips longitudinal line, each extension terminates in a narrower portion 6 by preference.

As the attachment appears in the other figures of the drawing the strip is bent transversely along the dotted line positions of Figure 6, the side or check portions 7 thereof being placed in substantially parallel planes. Thus formed the structure may be placed over and saddled upon the hammer-head as in Figure 2, the said check portions abutting the sides or cheeks of the said head.

In Figure 3 it will be observed that the extensions 5 have been .bent at right angles to the planes of the sides 5 the shank 3 of the hammer-head beneath the peen and claw ends thereof as suggested in both Figures 1 and 2.

Thus disposed, the attachment is snugly and positively fixed in position, and no ordinary use of the hammer can bring about a separation of the attachment therefrom particularly from the face that the places of interengagement of the extension 5 and the strip portion having the slot 4 are, in effect, beneath the peen and claw ends of the head as above stated. That is to say, a workman during building operations is often required to dispose of his hammer in order that both hands may be free to handle materials, for example. At such times he thrusts his hammer into a pocket of his clothing, or a special apron-pocket, where it will be readily available. For this reason a hammer must have no projecting parts that would likely catch upon the clothing and become entangled therewith. The provision of the closely lapping of the flat portions of the present device, and the absence of projecting parts is clearly of advantage, and even herein the lapping portions lie beneath the hammerhead extensions as in Figs. 1 and 2 so that even the metal corners thereof will not be rubbed by the clothing. In addition to the foregoing is the fact that the entire structure since bound snugly throughout upon the flat surfaces of the hammer-head cannot become loosened, nor can it alter its position under the most exacting conditions.

In several of the figures it is to be observed that provision is made for securely holding a nail to be initially driven.

The dies for creating the attachment are so produced as to remove a portion of each side wall 7 to create an opening 9, but leaving a pair of divergent fingers 10 in said opening the points of which, when the attachment is mounted on the hammer as in Figure l, are directed upwardly, and between which a nail 11 may be placed with its head lying between the hammer-head and said fingers, and abutting the former as suggested in that figure.

Made from spring metal the fingers will naturally yield in the introduction of the nail head and, though not shown in the drawing, the tips of the fingers may be slightly bent outward to permit free entrance of said nail head. It is clear that the nail placed high up upon the head of the hammer has a firm backing upon the latter for positive initial setting upon the work. Naturally, when the nail is initially set, the hammer can be withdrawn, the fingers permitting ready release of said nail.

I claim:

1. A nail holding device for use on hammers comprising a single strip of sheet metal which at substantially the middle of its length overlies part of the top surface of a hammer-head, the extremities of said strip paralleling each other and each overlying a side or cheek of the hammer head and overlying the adjacent sides of the shank of the latter, a portion of one of the extremities of said single strip being directed laterally substantially at right angles to the longitudinal line of the strip and partially encircling said shank, the other extremity of the strip together with the laterally directed portion completing the shank encirclement, the opposite ends of said single strip having fastening means adapted to be interengaged when the single strip is encircled around said shank whereby the strip is firmly secured in that position, the portions engaging said hammer head and said shank being of sheet metal and unitary and a nail holding claw carried on and fixed in position with respect 3 to said strip and facing a side or check of the hammerhead.

2. A nail holding device for use on hammers comprising a single strip of metal which at substantially the middle of its length overlies a portion of the top of a hammer-head, the extremities of said strip paralleling each other and each overlying a side or cheek of the hammer head and of the adjoining sides of the shank of said head, a portion of one of the extremities of said single strip being directed laterally therefrom substantially at right angles to the longitudinal line of said strip, said portion and the opposite extremity of the strip together encircling the shank, one of the encircling parts having a slot therein and the other engaging in said slot by which the encircling parts are snugly and positively held in position on said shank, the portions engaging said hammer head and said shank being of sheet metal and unitary and a nail holding claw carried on and fixed in position with respect to the strip and facing a side or cheek of said hammer-head.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein the place of engagement of the parts of the encircling structure at the shank of the hammer-head lie beneath the utility portions of the latter and the portions of the encircling structure at the opposite side faces of the hammer lie fiat against those faces.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,029,934 Kidd June 18, 1912 1,531,535 Beaulien Mar. 31, 1925 2,574,304 Vigil Nov. 6, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 29,488 Great Britain Dec. 31, 1904 

